<p>Looking for a school which appeals to an artist & would be 30-60 minutes away from NYC. Not looking for extremely selective such as Tisch/NYU, but for a strong A-, very bright student who does not test well. Also need to eliminate very pricey schools with weak fin. aid. Other than that, both public & private will be considered, if OOS qualifies for the public. Suggestions welcome.</p>
<p>Skidmore, Bard, SUNY-Purchase</p>
<p>FB, Schools with strong studio art and art history departments that my son looked at were Skidmore, Hamilton, Wesleyan, Conn College, Kenyon. (Most are bit farther than 30-60 minutes, I know, but s/he may have to compromise.) He ended up at Williams which is maybe too selective but does actively recruit kids involved in the arts and offers generous need based aid. </p>
<p>Others that he didn't visit are Bard, Vassar, Sarah Lawrence, Colby, Bowdoin. If your artist is a female Smith and Barnard are an excellent choices.</p>
<p>Eliminate Bard on grounds of selectivity and high tuition/low fin. aid.</p>
<p>reidm, I've been intrigued by SUNY-Purchase. Its programs sound great. But how do OOS'ers figure into the competition? (Higher reach?) What I esp. like about Purchase is its comprehensive arts programs -- opportunity to do more than one discipline for someone who is capable in many arts.</p>
<p>momrath, Vassar & Sarah Lawrence & Skidmore sound like possibilities,but I would have to look into the f.aid at each. Nix on Smith & Barnard, even though I know they offer lots of opportunities. (4 yrs at all-girls h.s. is enough.)</p>
<p>Fiddlefrog, I'm already shying away from Bard due to f.a., but also cerebral approach to the arts -- at least the appearance of that. (for example, very abstract emphasis in film studies.) On the other hand, Bard waives SAT's, so that aspect of selectivity would not be an issue, I would think.</p>
<p>I'm also wondering about the CUNY's. Are these strictly commuter schools? And does their quality vary by campus?</p>
<p>Leaving aside money, I wouldn't eliminate Bard. My cousin went there, and virtually all of her friends are/were artists of some sort. You're right that they waive the SAT, and an A- average is fine if it goes along with an artistic bent.</p>
<p>As for financial aid, she got some even though both her parents are professionals and her dad's a doctor. It's not an especially wealthy school, though, partly because its alums live in Williamsburg and paint rather than go to medical/law schools.</p>
<p>Hi! NY Mom here. Suny's do not get alot of OOS kids applying, so you may actually have a better shot at getting in than a NY kid with the same grades. Now Purchase may be an exception, as it is a very specialized school and is well regarded in the Performing Arts. But as it is a great school for your interests, you gotta give it a try. SUNY New Paltz also has an "artsy" reputation, so you may want to check it out too. Also if your artistic abilities lead towards design and fashion, you MUST check out FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology). FIT is also apart of the SUNY system and they are located mid-town (7th Ave & 24th ST.) They also have dorms only for kids who live a distance away from campus. The major 4 year CUNY schools are B'klyn, Queens, Hunter, CCNY and Lehman and lots of community colleges. Unfortunately, there aren't dorms as these schools were set up to meet the needs of NYC/ Metro NY kids. You may also want to check out Montclair State (NJ) as it too is an easy commute into NYC. OOS tuition seems reasonable and I believe they had some interesting programs in the performing/visual arts. Hope the info helps. Good luck.</p>
<p>marny & cleareyedguy, Thank you so much. Loved the comment about the painter parents. And I will look more into Bard.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info about NY schools. I was about to check into New Paltz anyway, so I'm glad you mentioned it. As to CCNY colleges, not having a campus & dorms would be a problem, I think, for my D. Another problem could be social climate of those. There were some posts quite awhile back somewhere on CC, about places like Brooklyn College (whose programs I like) & maybe a Long Island school -- which consisted essentially of high school redux: swarms of graduates of the same high schools recongregating en masse in local colleges. It's not a matter of disapproval; it's a question of how realistic it would be to have an OOS outsider assimilate gracefully into a local cliquey scene. I'm hoping that someone will say that at least one of the campuses is not that way. (I think my D needs some safeties that are financial safeties as well.)</p>